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Thought Seeds

“Our street curbs flow like ephemeral creeks when it rains. So let's treat them like creeks, by planting the native vegetation you would naturally find growing along such local waterways. Then cut or eliminate the street curbs to allow the creek water to water the plants in flood-controlling, street-side rain gardens.

For every inch of rainfall...
• A 10-foot wide paved street will drain 27,800 gallons of runoff per mile
• A 30-foot wide paved street will drain 83,500 gallons of runoff per mile

For every 100 mm of rainfall...
• A 3-m wide paved street will drain 300,000 liters of runoff per kilometer
• A 9-m wide paved street will drain 900,000 liters of runoff per kilometer”

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Judging by Brad’s current speaking and teaching schedule—and his priority to make Volume 1 available in digital and Spanish editions—Volume 3, Roof Catchments and Cistern Systems, will likely be available no sooner than 2017. If you would like to receive notification once Volume 3 is available, please scroll to the box on the left side of any page of this website to sign up for Brad’s email list.

The principles work everywhere. What changes is the plant palette. If you have more consistent/abundant rain, use plants and trees that require or can tolerate more water to grow shade, food, medicine, native wildlife habitat, etc. Where appropriate, Brad recommends setting up a system whereby any supplemental watering of gardens or landscape plants comes from non-potable onsite sources such as rainwater, stormwater, or greywater — just as he does in Tucson. If you have even more rainwater available, consider using it in the home in addition to outdoor uses.

NEW MEXICOAlbuquerque: La Montanita Coop, Valley and Nob Hill LocationsSanta Fe: La Montanita Coop on West Alameda
ELSEWHERE IN THE U.S.: Check with the folks at your local independent bookseller in order to support your community – if they don’t carry Brad’s books, any bookstore can special-order them through Brad’s distributor, Chelsea Green.
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND: Brad’s books are currently available through the Permaculture Research Institute’s web store, and can likely be ordered through your local bookstore.

Volume 1 is now available in Arabic! See the home page of this website for links to more information. In addition, we are working on making Brad’s books available in Spanish, and would consider working with a foreign publisher or distributor who is interested in purchasing foreign rights for their country or region. Please contact us if this is up your alley and you have or know of resources to help make these projects happen! Our U.S. distributor works with distributors in other countries, so talk to your local bookstore about ordering Brad’s books. You can use the contact link above if you need help tracking down the name of the distributor that serves your region.

Most of the videos on this site are not Brad’s property, and therefore he alone cannot grant you permission for their use. However, if you contact the producer(s) of the video(s) you are interested in and they grant you permission, then Brad is fine with your use of these videos, provided you give proper credit to the producer and to HarvestingRainwater.com.

Brad considers this on a case-by-case basis. Please indicate which page of Brad’s site you think would be the best fit for your product or service. On rare occasions, Brad will create a new resource page if you provide something Brad would like to support but for which he has not yet begun a list. The standard fee to list your business/organization name, 1-2 sentence description, and web address or phone number is $550 for 5 years for businesses, or a discounted rate for nonprofits of $150 for 5 years. We reserve the right to edit your description for content or tone. Click here for the web-based form to submit web listings.

– Start in on projects at your own home to gain hands-on experience. Brad doesn’t think you should need a contractor’s license to do small jobs for other people, but look into your local regulations on this just to be sure.

– Starting small and getting momentum going might well be your best strategy.

Yes, Brad offers local-to-Tucson consultation services. On rare occasions, he might be available for on-site consultation while traveling; please check the events page of the website to see where he currently has plans to be when. His consultation rate for projects with an on-site component is $200 for the first hour (whether document review, verbal pre-consult, or on site), and $100 for every additional hour of his time (including follow-up); a typical consult takes about 2 hours on-site. Remote consultation can be a challenge but feel free to inquire whether this might work in your case (note that fee is slightly higher). If you are interested in pursuing any type of consultation, Brad recommends (but does not require) that, in order to get the most out of the consultation, you educate yourself in advance by doing as many of the following as possible:

For a rainwater-harvesting, greywater-harvesting, permaculture, or integrated sustainable design consultation:

If Brad is going to be in your area within a time frame that would work for your situation and you’d like to inquire about hiring Brad to consult (see above), send us an email. However, without doing an on-site consult and asking a lot more questions (which he is too busy to be able to do), Brad is not able to provide much in the way of assistance. We suggest doing a web search for a local-to-you permaculturist, naturally-inclined landscaper, common-sense plumber, or other professional in your area who specializes in water issues, and who could be hired to come out to your site to consult and advise. See Companies Implementing Water-Harvesting Systems/Components for leads.

Brad has expended quite a bit of time, energy, and thought on creating the various resource pages of this website. Please navigate around (or use the search box on the left side of each web page) to see what information has already been compiled on this site for your convenience and benefit. After you have done your homework and searched the website, if you are still not finding the information you need, then feel free to email in your question. Note: there is a “tip jar” located on the left side of each page [coming soon] which you can use to say thanks to Brad for lending his expertise to your project, and to help support his ability to keep pace with recent developments and applications of water harvesting. Thank you!

This is a short question with no single short answer. While Brad has drunk harvested rainwater from less-than-pristine sources, and eats fruit and bean pods from trees irrigated with street runoff (note that the runoff does not come in contact with the edible portions), he cannot say for sure that these habits are without risk. Use your own judgment, and, if you’d like to catch up on some recent science about rainwater quality when harvested from various roofing materials, follow this link to an article on the topic, or download the complete study (PDF, ~1.2 MB) here: Effect of Roof Material on Water Quality for Rainwater Harvesting Systems. If you run across similar articles or studies elsewhere, please feel free to send a note about them to admin@HarvestingRainwater.com.

Brad does not yet have an active internship program, but if you would like him to consider you, please email us with what specific permaculture topics you are most interested in, what you think you would want to do with the skills and experiences you would come away with, what your time frame is, how many hours per week you could work, what your tolerance level is for the less-glamorous end of the spectrum of possible assignments, and whether you would be willing to work on an unpaid basis — that sort of information would be helpful.

Since Brad travels a lot and manages to stay very busy when he is in town, we recommend you begin by checking out this great local resource map of water-harvesting demonstrations sites and more, put together by Mead Mier at PAG (Pima Associations of Governments). If you are super-motivated to set up a visit with Brad, he can sometimes accommodate such requests, especially if your timing is right and you’re able and willing either to volunteer your time and energy toward one of his current projects, or if you’re willing to pay $100 per hour (need-based discounts available for schools and educational programs) for tour and/or Q & A time—you may bring a total of up to 20 people for this fee to lower the per-person cost and increase the spread of information. If either option sounds interesting, first please check the events page for a preliminary sense of Brad’s availability and then send us an email with a few dates and times that seem promising. Please note: non-school-based paid tours must be prepaid by PayPal or check to reserve a spot in Brad’s calendar.

As simple as it might sound, all Brad did to sow the seeds of excitement and action among his neighbors in the Dunbar-Spring neighborhood of Tucson was to start small in his own yard and the right-of-way (between the curb and the sidewalk) in front of his property. Once his neighbors saw what he was doing and how his property was gradually transforming for the better, their interest was sparked. And this process is ongoing. If things don’t work – fix them. Do not promote problems or mistakes. Instead, learn from your mistakes by striving for and finding solutions you can share/promote. Monitor and document ‘before’ and ‘after’ conditions with photos, data, and more. After you have successful on-the-ground work in motion, you can share images of the transformation, and even data on water saved, productivity of vegetation, temperature differences, wildlife counts, soil and water quality, etc. This way you will gradually become one of your community’s authentic “inperts” (a local expert), as Brad did. But it’s important to have the actual experience to back up your words. And you don’t have to go at it alone: work with other interested folk for more fun, teamwork, and creativity.

Start by learning about the proposed project’s reasons/goals for existing, and its pros and cons. Research alternatives/changes that could also meet/exceed the beneficial goals. The idea is to present positive, delicious, workable, integrated solutions that do more for less. The more compelling images, data, and working case studies/templates you have, the better, so others can easily see what you are trying to convey.

Greenstreets — Portland has retrofitted a number of streets with landscaped curb extensions, swales, planter strips, pervious pavement, and street trees to intercept and infiltrate stormwater. These Green Street projects demonstrate ways to address street runoff, which is an important source of stormwater as streets comprise 35 percent of the City’s impervious surface.

Clean River Rewards is Portland’s stormwater discount program. When you contain the rain on your property, you qualify for up to a 100% discount on your onsite stormwater management charge. (This site includes lots of links to more water-harvesting information.)

a. See the foreword by Andy Lipkis for description of “Hall House,” a retrofitted home that included earthworks and roof-fed cisterns. In a simulated 1,500-year flood event, 4,000 gallons of water fell on the property in one day and remained onsite. YouTube video of Hall House event: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRGKEOm2sPY

Brief, 6-page report. Research specific to rates of water infiltration per Saudi Arabia reservoir, but references a study in Texas. “Dammed river recharge has been recommended for flood control, a management tool and/or water conservation technique for Edward’s limestone aquifer in Texas (Green, 1967).” See report for full reference.

Also per report: Up to 94.5% of surface reservoir water infiltrates into the soil, resulting in a measurable increase in downstream groundwater flow. Report contains very interesting graph that clearly illustrates how volume of water infiltration affects increase in groundwater flow. Also, note the length of time between change in infiltration rate and corresponding groundwater flow (approximately 2 weeks in this study).

Villanova University thesis study, 145-page report. On-campus study indicated that rain storm events larger than 0.75 inches resulted in “groundwater mounding.” Mounding occurs when groundwater rises more quickly than can be moved in a downward flow. Report also compares groundwater elevation changes for two different areas – small grassy area vs. parking lot/roadway area. Grassy area results in delayed but prolonged positive groundwater elevation change whereas paved areas resulted in rapid rise and decline of groundwater elevation. Report also discusses water quality of each area and how temperature affects groundwater mounding. Includes graphs.

Pilot project to determine affects on aquifer with artificial groundwater recharge. River water was diverted into shallow ponds (1-2 feet deep), covering an area of 3.7 acres and receiving approximately 800 acre feet (AF) of water. Results indicated that groundwater rose by 1 foot in monitoring well. “A low-permeability layer (a sediment layer that allows water to move through it less readily than adjacent layers) about 120 feet below the land surface at the project site caused the infiltrating ground water to spread laterally, resulting in lower water-level increases at the monitoring well than were anticipated prior to the experiment.” Within same time period, nearby wells without artificial recharge dropped 4-10 feet.

4. “Groundwater responses to artificial recharge of rainwater in Chennai, India: a case study in an educational institution campus.” (2010)

A 7-page technical report. Conclusion: “In a period of four years, the recharge is very effective in increasing the level of the water table in the study area and also some groundwater flow appears to take place especially in the northern part of the study area to further downstream. This case study brings to light the importance of microlevel management of water sources that may influence the sustainable management of water as a common property resource.”

Rainwater harvesting can recharge the declining groundwater levels in cities. Data from 11 rainwater-harvesting projects spread across Delhi show an increase of 5 to10 meters in the groundwater levels over two years. These are the results of a survey from May 2002 to May 2004 on the level of groundwater in rainwater harvesting sites, carried out by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

The Edwards Aquifer is a unique groundwater system and one of the most prolific artesian aquifers in the world. It is one of the greatest natural resources on Earth, serving the diverse agricultural, industrial, recreational, and domestic needs of almost two million users in south central Texas.

This website contains a lot of area specific information concerning Hill Country and local geography, including limestone. I did a site search for “infiltration” and another for “springflow” and found several articles/reports discussing the topic.

THE UMBRELLA:
A catch-all of news,
media, and events from
Brad Lancaster
Summer 2015
UPCOMING EVENTS
Click the linked header ABOVE to find more details about some of Brad’s mid/late-2015 events, including: